Affordable housing only way to tackle real estate recession: Minister

The government is working towards creating around 6 crore affordable houses in the coming years of which the state would get 25 lakhs while the Mumbai Metropolitan region would see around 11 lakh affordable housesManoj Badgeri | TNN | January 16, 2016, 12:01 IST

THANE: Creating affordable homes is the need of the hour and is the only solution to bail out the real estate industry from the present slowdown it is facing, said public works minister Eknath Shinde. The minister was speaking at a glittering function to mark the inauguration of a three day real estate exhibition in Thane.

The government is working towards creating around 6 crore affordable houses in the coming years of which the state would get 25 lakhs while the Mumbai Metropolitan region would see around 11 lakh affordable houses. “There is a huge demand in this sector and the government is actively thinking over bridging the demand and supply gap. Creating affordable homes is the only way to fight off the recession in the real estate industry,” he said.

Speaking about the future development plans of Thane, Shinde said that the cluster development plans and the issue of dilapidated structures in the lake city will be sorted soon. Speaking about the biggest challenge of proper transportation facility in the city, he said the situation is likely to change soon with a slew of developmental projects in the pipeline.

“The transportation issues of Thane will also be solved soon with the development of the Thane-Borivli tunnel, Wadala-Thane metro, etc. The extended railway station at Kopri will also help reduce the load on the existing station while the TMC is also striving for widening roads in the city,” he said.

The government is working on ease of business where the number of permissions required for constructing houses will be lesser and the procedure faster. Environment clearances presently plaguing the industry here will also be sorted out with discussions with the forest department and minister Ramdas Kadam, he said.

Nearly 40 developers from across the city participated in the event that saw a decent turnout on the inaugural day.